Haringey advocacy group appeals for more volunteers to help older people

An advocacy group for older people in Haringey is appealing for more members and volunteers as the pandemic continues.

Committee member Anne Gray explained the Haringey Over 50s Forum is facing “a general emasculation of energies due to Covid-19 and lockdown,” while its services remain invaluable.

“There’s a horrendous mental health burden of this whole business, where people are isolated from their relatives,” she said, adding the committee has been calling its members since the beginning of lockdown to check their welfare.

It has also been selling digital tablets at a cheaper cost to its members, and Anne warned the reliance on online communication over the pandemic risks shutting out the older population, many of whom find it inaccessible.

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The Forum is planning a project with Muswell Hill charity Generation Exchange in the new year, in which teenagers from the charity’s partner schools “will telephone older people and help them with the things they need to know about how to get a tablet going.”

She said the community could also benefit from the older generation’s knowledge, as many are retired healthcare workers who “might be invaluable in passing on messages about vaccination,” while they “will have been through umpteen vaccinations in their lives”.

“I really think a number of brains need to be applied to this (and they) are in danger of being overlooked,” she said.

Find more information at https://ho50s.org.uk.